Amid the frozen sea he has recently observed clouds of steam - a sign that the ice, once thick and stable, is cracking.

The fact that the village could disappear virtually at any moment has everyone worried - there have even been some suicides.

As we spoke the mercury was nudging -30C, bone chilling for a man of my warm-blooded Western sensibilities, positively tropical for the people here.

On the short plane ride from the nearby town of Nome (whose local newspaper bears the slogan: "There's no place like Nome") we met Malcolm Henry.

He wore a baseball cap, loose-fitting jacket and Hawaiian shorts.

Protruding from the shorts were legs impressively devoid of goose-pimples.

"You must be freezing?" I suggested from beneath a balaclava and six layers of clothing.

International Polar Year is one of largest studies for 50 years

"Man, this is warm for the time of year. I remember when it was -40C with a wind-chill factor of -60."

Everywhere we went the anecdotal evidence suggested that Alaska's winters are not only getting warmer but shorter, and its summers longer.

And the impact extends to wildlife as well: shortly after we arrived local television was carrying reports about efforts to have polar bears listed as an endangered species.

The ice caps on which they live are melting - no prizes for guessing why - causing them to come further inland to look for food and thus making them easier prey for local hunters.

Later this month a delegation from Shishmaref and other communities threatened by global warming (estimates suggest that more than 180 Alaskan villages are feeling the impact of flooding and erosion) will travel to Washington DC to provide evidence that climate change is destroying their way of life.

They will also argue that US energy policies - and the Bush administration's position on greenhouse gases - are to blame for the problem, and constitute an infringement of their basic human rights.

Whatever effect their efforts may have some believe it is already too late.

The impact of global warming is vivid. Just ask the people of Shishmaref.